1VaBlue1

December 13th, 2017 at 7:45 AM ^

Lots of concern over the OL for next year, and I'm a little nervous, too.  But I also think the OL will be improved over what we saw this last season.  The interior will be fine (Bredeson, Ruiz, Onwenu - most likely), it's the tackles that scare people.  However, I think whoever wins the jobs out of the ~15 fighting for them should be an improvement.  I think LT will be the same - Cole was really good, but was out of position and not elite - and I think the new LT will grow into it and be as good as Cole was.  Remember Newsome?  He had some early shakiness, but really started improving game to game after the first couple.  That's how I figure the next LT will track.

RT can only improve.  JBB did a nice job stabilizing the position, and just flattened people when run blocking.  But I don't think he wins it next year.  I don't know who does, but that who will be better at pass pro, even if not as stout at run blocking.  And that will be just fine.

I expect an improved pass blocking front, and a run block effort at least as good as late year this season.  The biggest question I have is how well Ruiz can operate at center, given what he'll need to do for line calls.  I think he'll be fine, but it'll take a few games.  Maybe Spanellis beats him?  Nah, I doubt that...

Joined: 01/31/2016

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Orlando

December 13th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^

I think a best case scenario would be to see a duo of Filagia, Stueber, and Hudson starting. We have all of them for at least three more years. That means by 2019/2020 we could have two Mason Cole-type players starting at tackle. As much as I would like to see Newsome come back, it would be a bad sign if he is starting next season; it would show the other O-Lineman are not improving. Grant hasn’t had a full practice in over a year now.

Joined: 12/12/2017

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war-dawg69

December 13th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^

If Filiaga is starting then that means Bredeson or Owenu is on the bench. Not likely. My guess is Hudson at LT with JBB at RT. If Michigan can sign Frere and Patterson this year we are good at the tackle spot for a long time. If either of the Michigan kids beat out those two, then they ended up being very good.

Of course you are correct in thinking if stueber beats out JBB, then we got an upgrade and maybe a three year starter. I have not seen Hudson play so I will exclude him, but I really hope we can get Frere and Patterson because they are better than any tacle Michigan has currently.

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SlickNick

December 13th, 2017 at 8:25 AM ^

I think people make too big of a deal going from a shotgun to under center offense...All the way down to youth, and high school football I've played with guys that did both during games and had no issue. I understand this comparison is not totally fair when you're talking about the complexity of offense at the D1 level..but taking a snap under center is a fundamental thing,  it should be no issue for a highly talented D1 guy to make the adjustment...its more of a timing thing than anything else. Give it enough reps with the offense and Patterson will be fine. 

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1VaBlue1

December 13th, 2017 at 8:50 AM ^

I don't have any experiece one way, or the other, but I'll relate what Greg McElroy said about it yesterday.  He said he was a dual-threat his entire life until he transferred to Bama and had to learn Saban's NFL system.  Said it was like learning Chinese, and took him over a year to get it figured out.  He said this while talking about Patterson, but I have no idea if those two are in the same 'football knowledge' realm (I would suspect they are).

FWIW, I respect McElroy as a radio talking head.  He's been pretty fair about things when referencing Harbaugh/Michigan, as opposed to most talking heads that just spout hot take numbers (1-5, pressure, blah blah).  He likes what Harbaugh is doing, and enjoys his offense.

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maize-blue

December 13th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^

I also think that it's not a sure thing that Patterson hits the ground running in this offense. JOK came from a spread/pass system and was that style QB and never looked the same again at UM. Hindsight and all that, I think he (JOK) would have been better off in the long run at another school with a similar system as Houston.

Now, I'm not saying that just because JOK seeminly didn't fit in a Pro (ish) style system that Patterson will struggle. I think it's a possibility that it could not be as smooth as we hope. I think Harbaugh will have to tweak the offense just a little, not much, to allow Patterson to do what is natural for him. 

Joined: 01/10/2013

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garde

December 13th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^

And apparently McElroy was no idiot. Yeah its Alabama some will say, but he clearly took academics seriously. You don't pull off that GPA without doing the work, especially as a starting QB at a major football school

McElroy, a Rhodes scholarship finalist, is 23-2 as Alabama's starting quarterback. He completed his undergraduate work with a 3.82 GPA, earning a degree in marketing. He's now finishing up his graduate degree in sports administration and has a 4.0 GPA.

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